How To remove and paint your front grille

[FishinFord]

I have a 99 explorer. How easy was it to get the grille off to get to the headlights? Mines cracked i want to replace it. Should i follow nearly the same way as above in this newer model explorer?
-Kug

 

[Blazepet7]

no a 99 is totally different theres i think 4 screw and two plastic tabs to remove two you can see when you open the hood facing you the tabs stick up then you have to remove the corner lights and theres two screws behind the lights once the screws are out just carefully pull the grill out. and for that picture of the soldiers on the humvee thank you for your service maah man sweet truck love the black...

 

[FishinFord]

So once i remove the corner lights, i have almost full acess to the rest of the grille and behind my headlights im guessing?
-thanks for the help!

-Kug

 

[Blazepet7]

well once you remove the lights (take the bulbs out of the housing and set corner light aside) you have access to the two screws that hold the grill in place. take the two screws out and the entire grill with the corner trim that you can see from the side of the truck will come out. carefully take a screwdriver (flat) or something to pry off the grill from the clips that hold it in place there are clips on the bottom of the grill ..also when you take out the two top screws from the front you have to take out the plastic retainer clips from the top cover(that covers the lights) lift it a little bit just enough to slide the two screw tabs under the cover foreward towards you, its hard to explain but when you look at the grill from the front with the hood open you will see what i mean.. patients helps ask if you need more info...

 

[mycaptainchris]

I love the headlights, I may have to do that on mine. I was looking to get them smoked but prefer what you've done.

A tip for masking hard parts like lettering. (wouldn't work on the ford badge but you may find it handy elsewhere) smear dish dish soap rather than mask, then cut around the edges and wash off the paint.

 

[King of So Cal]

Nice, you have the same wheels as mine. And does your truck have a lift

 

[buckflash]

Yep... I putted the truxxx 2.5 front and 1.25 back and it's awesome!! but it wasn't on while I took those pictures though

 

[KPSquared]

I don't know about the later model Ford emblems, but any of the old ones, you can pop off, sand the back side down, and just spray whatever color you want. The "Ford" is recessed in the back and chromed so it won't sand out. Easier than masking.

Here's the thread --> EMBLEM COLOR CHANGE

Sweet looking rig though...

 

[King of So Cal]

Have you noticed a differance in handleing with the lift? And send pics! I want to see the differance.

 

[xplorerguru]

Yep... I putted the truxxx 2.5 front and 1.25 back and it's awesome!! but it wasn't on while I took those pictures though

Got Pics???

 

[deuce07]

how did you remove the rear tail peice?

 

[buckflash]

Ishhhh I cant remember exactly... but I think you need to pop out the ford emblem by pushing it up and then you can easily remove the rest of the piece... it's really tricky from what I remember!

 

[nic092]

What type of rims are those and what was the price of all four?

 

[Macnozzie]

Hey great thread! I'm a Dragoon posted to Gagetown and I got a 08 sport trac. Had it for less then a month and I'm already itchin to do stuff. the primer is drying as we speak as I'm in the middle of doing the exact thing to mine. I was gonna try out the Ironman edition grill until I went to the dealer and told me it was 3 or 400 bones! Anyhoo Thanks for a great pictorial, my PMQ basement is turned into a paint shop and I'm psyched. Also what tour is that? I haven't been over since roto 4/0 when we moved down to Kandahar, pretty quiet then. Cheers

 

[buckflash]

Hey! That was roto 7 shipped 3-09! Been really busy but everyone of my platoon came back safetly!

 

[bats]

That is a beefy looking truck! Thanks for the tips, it'll help me when I repaint my grill this week before Carlisle.

Thank you for serving our country and glad every one in your platoon made it back alright!

 

[Lukas2009]

Was it very difficult to remove the housing of the headlights from the glass?
How did you do that?

 

[ToneyC]

Wow,

Awesome work, thanks for posting this. I am a noob; just bought an '08 Explorer Sport Trac and I'm looking to do exactly what you just did to my grill, mirrors and headlights.

I'm currently in Iraq and I can't wait to get back and mod my truck.

I was wondering ------ have you had a chance to post how you painted the head light housing?

Thanks,

 

[ToneyC]

No joy huh?

 

[drboompa]

My chrome is coming off my plastic grill. How do I re-chrome it????